Green Tea
WHAT IS GREEN TEA? Green tea hails from China where it’s been cultivated since the Han Dynasty (206-220), though it was used primarily for medicinal purposes at that time, it wasn’t until China’s early Tang Dynasty (600-900) that green tea started being consumed as a sipping tea. While many people assume that green tea is a variety all on its own, it is in fact, made from leaves of the very same plant as Black, Oolong, and English Breakfast teas, Camellia sinensis. Read more >
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Uncle Lee's Tea Imperial Green Tea With Jasmine combines the antioxidant power in Green tea with a delicate, sweet scent of jasmine pedals. When brewed, it produces a honey yellow hue, and an aroma of tropical flowers. Aside from being certified organic and kosher, every batch is carefully hand inspected to ensure goodness and purity. Taste the Uncle Lee's difference! [TEA BAGS]
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Uncle Lee's Tea Imperial Organic Lemon Ginger Green Tea combines the power of antioxidants in Green tea with tangy lemon and energy-boosting ginger. Naturally refreshing lemon and spicy ginger make Imperial Organic Lemon Ginger Green Tea delicious iced or hot. This vibrant tea will awaken your senses and give you a fresh start daily. Certified organic and kosher, every batch is meticulously ins...
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Uncle Lee's Organic Pomegranate Green Tea with Mixed Berries is a great source of antioxidants. This is a refreshing natural drink that is great hot or cold. A subtle tart flavor and rich color makes our pomegranate tea the perfect blend of green tea and natural fruit flavors. Certified organic and kosher, every batch is carefully hand inspected to ensure goodness and purity. [TEA BAGS]
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Green Tea from Celebration Herbal is a Classic Chinese Favourite! Mellow, smooth and serene tasting, this Green Tea comes from the Fujian region of China where the tender young leaves are at their most flavourful. The leaves are then gently washed, steamed, rolled and dried to retain their delicate flavour and aroma. Considered as a gentle, full bodied, satisfying, medium strength tea, Green te...
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Darjeeling Green Tea from Celebration Herbals is a complex, medium-bodied tea that brews to a light green colour and has a wonderful mild fruity/grapey taste and subtle aroma. With a smooth start and clean finish, Darjeeling Green Tea is perfect for any time of day, and is best taken without milk or sugar so all its subtle complexness can be appreciated. Sourced from Northern India, Darjeeling ...
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Darjeeling Green Tea With Lemongrass from Celebration Herbals is a complex, medium-bodied tea and has a lemony start followed by a wonderful mild fruity/grapey taste. With a smooth start and clean finish, with a “medium” on the pucker power scale of sourness. Sourced from Northern India, Darjeeling Green Tea is recognized as being one of the great teas of the world and is often referred to as t...
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Darjeeling Green Tea With Spearmint from Celebration Herbals is a complex tea that start with a wonderful mild fruity/grapey taste followed by a refreshing minty aftertaste. Sourced from Northern India, Darjeeling Green Tea is recognized as being one of the great teas of the world and is often referred to as the “Champagne of Green Teas.” This unique blend creates a refreshing minty tea that ca...
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Japanese Bancha Green Tea from Celebration Herbals tastes of green leaves with a medium vegetable flavour with a somewhat complex finish. Bancha tea is the market leader of Japanese style tea and is considered to be an everyday tea, because it is low in caffeine yet high in vitamins and minerals. Unlike many other green teas from around the world, Bancha tea brews into a beautiful dark green te...
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Premium Jasmine Green Tea from Celebration Herbal is a mild tea with a balanced taste and a rich, delicate fragrance of fresh jasmine. This Chinese style tea is made by harvesting fresh jasmine flowers and storing them in a cool place. The blossoms are then layered amongst the tea leaves and as the jasmine flowers open, the tea takes on their beautiful scent and fresh, floral aroma; offering a ...
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This White & Green tea blend from Celebration Herbals is a perfect balance. The mild taste of white tea meets the elegant aroma of this Chinese style green tea. White tea is known for its cooling properties, making it a great tea for a hot summer's day. It offers a sweet flavour with a mild smoky undertone, while the green tea in this blend is soft and smooth with a floral, herbal aroma. En...
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Four O’Clock Organic Japanese Sencha Matcha is a vibrant green tea made with 100% Japanese tea leaves for an authentic and refined tea experience. Combining the smooth character of sencha with the rich depth of matcha, this organic blend brews into a deep emerald cup with delicate herbaceous notes. Both visually striking and pleasantly balanced, it offers a soothing way to enjoy premium Japanes...
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A classic blend of genmaicha and matcha teas, Matcha Toasted Rice has a savory, nutty flavor. Numi Tea blends sencha green tea with toasted rice to make Genmaicha, a traditional Japanese tea. The result is a smooth, rich brew with earthy depth and undertones of brightness. The organic sencha and matcha teas in this blend come from a single Verified Fair Labor™ farm in Zhejiang, China, where inv...
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Enjoy a bright and earthy tea that offers a high amount of caffeine plus is organic. A legendary South American elixir, Numi’s Organic Mate Lemon Green Tea infusion of organic Brazilian Yerba Mate, Australian Lemon Myrtle and green tea unfolds into a lemon taste with sweet, earthy undertones. Its stimulating effect evokes a cheerful mental lucidity. Numi Tea’s organic yerba mate comes from Para...
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Uncle lee's Green Tea (Camellia Sinensis) begins as young tender leaf buds, plucked fresh at the height of potency and flavor. Each leaf is simply rolled and gently flash-dried to hold in the delicate flavor and aroma. This green tea is decaffeinated by a natural CO2 process and is nearly caffeine free. Certified organic and kosher, every batch is meticulously inspected to ensure quality and fl...
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Uncle Lee's Tea Imperial Organic Green Tea is rich in antioxidants, and is combined with exotic Goji berries which are rich in carotenoids such as beta-carotene and zeaxanthin. Goji berries have been consumed by the Chinese people for thousands of years primarily for its health benefits to the human eyes and anti-toxin functions. Imperial Organic Green Tea With Goji Berry is a refreshing natura...
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Chai (or Masala Chai) is traditionally a brewed beverage, combining rich spices and black tea with milk and a sweetener. This tea contains Stevia Rebaudiana, a natural sweetener extracted from the leaves of the plant. Stevia has zero calories, and is effective in helping to control glucose level. With spices from around the world, Imperial Organic's Green Tea With Lemon Chai is a delicious expe...
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What is Green Tea?
What is Green Tea?Green tea hails from China where it’s been cultivated since the Han Dynasty (206-220), though it was used primarily for medicinal purposes at that time, it wasn’t until China’s early Tang Dynasty (600-900) that green tea started being consumed as a sipping tea. While many people assume that green tea is a variety all on its own, it is in fact, made from leaves of the very same plant as Black, Oolong, and English Breakfast teas, Camellia sinensis.
To make green tea, the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant are plucked, slightly withered, then immediately cooked to preserve the full nutritional content and prevent oxidization. Unlike Chinese green teas, Japanese teas are not withered and the leaves are steamed to preserve the colour, flavour, and nutrients.
Today, there is a wide variety of different green tea that is grown and harvested in many different regions of China and Japan, each with its own distinct flavour profile as a result of things like the growing method, timing of the leaves harvest, and processing method. Some of the most common green tea varieties include:
- Sencha – By far the most commonly known and consumed of green teas. Processed using common processing methods (steaming and rolling leaves)
- Fukamushi Sencha – Green tea that has been steamed approximately twice as long as regular Sencha – has a stronger taste and darker green colour
- Gyokuro – Made with tea leaves from a covered culture that suppresses catechins, resulting in a tea that is less astringent and has a richer flavour
- Kabusesha – From tea leaves shielded from sunlight one week prior to harvesting, giving the tea a darker green colour, full-bodied flavour, and lower astringency
- Tencha – Primarily used to make Matcha. Similar to Gyokuro, grown according to the covered culture method
- Genmaicha – Features soaked & steamed, then roasted & popped brown rice mixed with Sencha or another green tea variety in a 50:50 ratio
- Hojicha – Made by roasting Sencha or other types of green tea, which gives it a distinct roasted aroma
- Shincha – Or "new tea" – made the first picking of the season. Refreshing and invigorating, low catechin and caffeine content, and less bitter and astringent
- Matcha – Tencha which has been stone ground.
Green Tea - taste, texture, aroma
Given the wide variety of green teas, it's important to understand that the flavour of individual green teas will depend on terroir – i.e. the unique set of environmental and climate conditions in which it was grown. Generally speaking, a high-quality green tea, when brewed appropriately, delivers a fresh, slightly astringent, vegetal flavour with bright grassy after notes. Of course, depending on the variety of tea, it can also be sweeter or more bitter, nutty, grassy, smoky, or can have a bit of a seaweed flavour.
Brewing a Perfect Cup of Green Tea
Making the perfect cup of green tea is no easy feat, and is highly dependent on the temperature of the water you use. An optimal water temperature for brewing green tea is between 158 °F and 176 °F – this will allow optimal extraction of key compounds from catechins and tannins to amino acids and volatiles. But be sure not to boil the water as this will ruin the flavour entirely. You also want to make sure not to over-brew the tea, as this will draw out too much bitterness. An optimal brew time is usually 1 to 2 minutes.
Green tea is also delicious cold-brewed since this method extracts different amounts of the leaves' compounds, providing far less bitter and astringent compounds, and caffeine are extracted, which yields a pleasant refreshing flavour. To make cold brew green tea, add 1-2 spoonfuls of tea leaves to a large glass pitcher, add lukewarm or cold water, cover with a lid, and put in a fridge for at least 3-5 hours. Enjoy!
Active Compounds in Green Tea
Green tea is a nutrient powerhouse and has a much higher concentration of nutrients, most notably, chlorophyll, polyphenols, and antioxidants than other tea types. In fact, roughly 30% of green tea's dry weight is made up of antioxidants. The active components in green tea include:
- Caffeine – This is what is in large part responsible for green tea’s bitterness component. Caffeine is well-known to increase mental alertness and enhance memory.
- EGCG – Epigallocatechin gallate is a polyphenol that acts as an antioxidant, so offers protection against free radicals. Additionally, EGCG can support heart health and healthy blood sugar balance. EGCH contributes to the bitter quality of green tea. Other polyphenols in green tea include epicatechin gallate and epicatechin.
- Kaempferol, Quercetin, and Myricetin – Three unique flavonoids increase the body's antioxidant defence. There is also clinical evidence that they support a healthy inflammatory response and optimal immune function.
- Saponins – Saponins are natural foaming agents (responsible for the frothing we see in certain teas). Green tea leaves contain around 0.1% saponins, which imparts the tea with a strong bitterness and astringency. Saponins have many functions in the body, with a very important one being supporting healthy cholesterol levels.
- Theanine – This is an amino acid found in tea leaves, and is responsible for providing the full-bodied flavour profile of green tea. Theanine impacts nerve impulses in the brain and the release of neurotransmitters. It has a natural calming effect on the body and mind without causing drowsiness.
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